By Heather Anderson
Fresh off an Aug. 20 newcomers' victory going 1500 metres at Sapporo, Dolce More (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) subdued longtime leader Granite (Jpn) (Danon Ballad {Jpn}) to take the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup at Tokyo on Saturday.
Sent off as the 5-1 second choice, the colt settled in an ideal perch, as 39-1 longshot Granite ran off and hid from the field, spotting them at least 10 lengths. However, his lead began to look shaky with 400 metres remaining, and Dolce More was gaining on his erstwhile rival with every stride. Five jumps from the wire, the leader succumbed to Dolce More's determined rally, and the margin on the wire was 1 1/4 lengths. The 7-1 third choice, Silver Duke (Jpn) (Silver State {Jpn}) sat third the whole way around and maintained that finishing position, 2 1/2 lengths off of Granite. Favoured Nocking Point (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}), who was 40 cents on the dollar, closed from near the rear of the pack to take fourth, another length back.
Pedigree Notes
King Kamehameha (Jpn) horse Rulership, who won the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, now has 25 stakes winners (16 group) to his name, with the winner's victory on Saturday. Most of them 18/25 or 72%, are out of mares by Sunday Silence or one of his sons, including both of Rulership's Group 1 winners–Mer De Glace (Jpn), who won the G1 Caulfield Cup, and G1 Japanese St Leger hero Kiseki (Jpn).
The fourth foal and third winner produced by G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) heroine Ayusan (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Dolce More has a half-brother by Rey De Oro (Jpn) born this spring. Ayusan is a half-sister to two-time stakes winner Saki To Me (Fusaichi Pegasus), and a full-sister to G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies third Mau Lea (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Third dam Buy The Firm (Affirmed) claimed the GI Top Flight H., and also threw the GIII Ben Ali S. hero Storm Broker (Storm Cat) and the French listed scorer Royal Arrow (Dayjur) among her quintet of winners.
Saturday, Tokyo, Japan
SAUDI ARABIA ROYAL CUP, ¥63,060,000, Tokyo, 10-8, 2yo, 1600mT, 1:33.40, fm.
1–DOLCE MORE (JPN), 121, c, 2, by Rulership (Jpn)
1st Dam: Ayusan (Jpn) (G1SW-Jpn, $1,664,039),
by Deep Impact (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Buy the Cat, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Buy the Firm, by Affirmed
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Three H Racing;
B-Shimokobe Farm (Jpn); T-Naosuke Sugai; J-Kazuo Yokoyama.
¥33,322,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Granite (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Danon Ballade-(Jpn)–Intiwatana
(Jpn), by Fusaichi Concorde (Jpn). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST
GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Mill Farm; B-Yoshiaki Saruhashi (Jpn);
¥13,092,000.
3–Silver Duke (Jpn), 121, c, 2, Silver State (Jpn)–Vanadis (Jpn),
by Rock of Gibraltar (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK
TYPE. (¥40,000,000 Ylg '21 JRHAJUL). O-Toshihiko Tabata;
B-Hiroshi Okita (Jpn); ¥8,346,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 2HF, 1. Odds: 5.80, 39.40, 7.80.
Also Ran: Nocking Point (Jpn), Meiner Celerius (Jpn), Boukephalas (Jpn), Miscela Dorata (Jpn), From Now On (Jpn), Red Solid (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.
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